LA-07: Don Cravins
NV-02: Jill Derby
OH-02: Vic Wulsin
PA-03: Kathy Dahlkemper
VA-05: Tom Periello
VA-10: Judy Feder
MO-09: Winner of the August 5th primary
By and large, the DCCC is pressing into some very red turf with this round, showing even more aggressiveness. The full Red to Blue list to date can be found here.
The DCCC is rolling out their third wave of candidates included in their Red To Blue fundraising program today:
AK-AL: Ethan Berkowitz
AZ-01: Ann Kirkpatrick
AZ-03: Bob Lord
CO-04: Betsy Markey
FL-21: Raul Martinez
FL-25: Joe Garcia
LA-04: Paul Carmouche
MD-01: Frank Kratovil
NM-01: Martin Heinrich
NM-02: Harry Teague
NV-03: Dina Titus
NY-13: Mike McMahon
VA-02: Glenn Nye
VA-11: Gerry Connolly
These additions swell the Red To Blue roster to 37 names, although the additions of Kirkpatrick, Titus, and Heinrich were previously announced. The full roster of Red To Blue candidates is available on the DCCC's website.
The only mild surprise here for me is Frank Kratovil, who is up against far-right Republican Andy Harris in Maryland's 1st CD, an R+9.8 district. I knew the DCCC would acknowledge this race as a pick-up opportunity, but I didn't expect it to happen this soon.
The DCCC is also rolling out a new slate of 20 "Emerging Races", a sort of "watch list" for future Red To Blue additions. Among them are Jill Derby (NV-02), Nick Leibham (CA-50), and Michael Skelly (TX-07). We'll post the full list when we can.
UPDATE: Here's the full list of "emerging races":
AL-03: Josh Segall
CA-50: Nick Leibham
FL-09: John Dicks
FL-18: Annette Taddeo
IL-06: Jill Morgenthaler
IL-18: Colleen Callahan
IN-03: Mike Montagano
KY-02: David Boswell
MN-02: Steve Sarvi
MN-06: El Tinklenberg
NC-10: Dan Johnson
NJ-05: Dennis Shulman
NV-02: Jill Derby
OH-02: Vic Wulsin
PA-03: Kathy Dahlkemper
PA-06: Bob Roggio
PA-15: Sam Bennett
TX-07: Michael Skelly
VA-05: Tom Perriello
VA-10: Judy Feder
Kay Barnes (MO-06)
Anne Barth (WV-02)
Darcy Burner (WA-08)
Robert Daskas (NV-03)
Steven Driehaus (OH-01)
Jim Himes (CT-04)
Christine Jennings (FL-13)
Larry Kissell (NC-08)
Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24)
Eric Massa (NY-29)
Gary Peters (MI-09)
Mark Schauer (MI-07)
Dan Seals (IL-10)
There are few surprises here, but the committee's stamp of approval given to replacement candidate Anne Barth, who is running against incumbent GOP Rep. Shelley Moore Capito in WV-02 seems indicative of the DCCC's desire to bust open the 2008 playing field in a big way.
As I stated in my previous diary and numerous comments, I believe the Illinois 10th Congressional district is ripe for a flip. Mark Kirk has served as the representative for the district since 2000, and while he claims to be a moderate, his record is anything but moderate. In order to understand why this seat should be a prime target in 2008, it is first important to understand the district and its make up.
The Illinois 10th district covers a significant portion of Lake County in the northeast corner of the state and five townships on the north and northwest sides of Cook County (Cook County is the home to Chicago). The five communities in Cook County are Elk Grove, Northfield, New Trier (Wilmette, Glencoe & Winnetka), Palatine and Wheeling. Due to their proximity to the City of Chicago, the Cook County communities actually account for more votes than the Lake County townships (election data from Lake County and Cook County Clerk Websites).
